Rather Be Writing Reviews JoJo Tabares' Course Language of Leadership

To read a review of JoJo Tabares' Language of Leadership Course, please visit Rather Be Writing at http://www.beckyjoie.blogspot.com/

NOTE TO RAD MOMS: I highly recommend JoJo's books on communication to you for helping your children attach and learn communication skills. In fact, even though her Play What You Mean, the PlayBook is not written specifically for RAD, it has many fun games in it that promote attachment and communication between children and mothers. Check it out by following the links in my review.

Okay. Time to go now. Y'all come back now, ya hear?

GROWING HEALTHY HOMES

We interrupt the weekly parenting series for...

A TOS HOMESCHOOL CREWMEMBER REVIEW OF GROWING HEALTHY HOMES, LLC.’s NUTRITION 101:CHOOSE LIFE

When I signed on to the TOS Homeschool Crew, I had no idea that the curricula I would receive for review purposes would include such creative and interesting items as Nutrition 101: Choose Life by Growing Healthy Homes, LLC. Co-authored by Debra Reyburn, M. D., N. C., C.H.C., I.C.A., Sara Johnson, B.M.U., Laura Hopkins, B.S. and Karen Hopkins, B.S., the book is an incredible resource for any home, private or public school teacher although it reports to be designed specifically for family use. A whopping 447 pages long, this e-book covers everything from biology to neuroscience, nutrition to fitness and many aspects of human anatomy. I received the e-book version but it is available as well in real life book format.

Being somewhat of a health snob myself, I was thrilled to have such a book in hand. Yes, I printed it because I am a sucker for the three dimensional book and my boys love multi-sensory learning. My laptop computer is just too small for the boys to read from and I wanted them to read along and/or to see the pictures as well. (We did go to the computer e-book for the additional resource links, though.)

Although I knew I would love the book, I wasn’t so sure my reluctant learners would enjoy it. To my great surprise, they did love it! They especially enjoyed the neuroscience section and the activities and links at the end of each chapter. One of them even decided to borrow library books and videos on the brain as a result of reading this first chapter in Nutrition 101.

The book is divided into six units with four subchapters inside of each. An introduction at the beginning gives ample instruction to the teacher on how to implement and design lesson plans for both elementary and secondary grades using the activity guide in the back of the book for assistance. At the end of each chapter, there were also: discussion questions, activities and recipes, and links and lists of additional resources. Behind the activity guide in the back of the book, are pages and pages of facts and supplemental material in the appendixes as well as an alphabetical index using keywords/topics in the curriculum.

Here is what the units cover:

Unit 1-Brain and Nervous System
Unit 2-Digestive System
Unit 3- Respiratory, Olfactory, Auditory and Visual Systems
Unit 4- Muscular and Skeletal Systems
Unit 5- Cardio Vascular and Immune Systems
Unit 6-Endocrine System and Emotions

Here are some of the things covered in the Appendices (You’ll have to buy the book to see the rest. These are just some of the things I liked.)

· Food Pyramid and servings guidelines
· Grocery shopping checklists,
· Detailed shopping guides for choosing fresh produce,
· Vitamin and mineral charts,
· RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) charts for all kinds of nutrients,
· Information on reproductive health and so much more!

This curriculum is unbelievably packed with FASCINATING and scientifically accurate information but it wasn’t all rote detail. It also weighed some of the pros and cons of public opinion on topics such as: dairy products for human consumption, chemical versus natural cleaners, whether or not certain types of fat and cholesterol are beneficial to the body and a few other semi-controversial topics. We found it both informative and interesting.

I use the curriculum several times per week to teach Science/Health to both boys. Since there is a fair amount of technical information in the book that could be “over their heads”, I thought it best to have them take notes as I read the material to them and explain words with which they are unfamiliar. There is flexibility in the material for presenting it as extensive or as basic as you desire with plenty of opportunity for hands-on application.

Because I do value nutritional health, we already use many of the recommended items in the recipes. Consequently, I did not put forth a big effort to make all of the recipes but we did eat many of the items listed in each chapter under the food categories for each nutrient. For instance, the chapter on brain health mentioned the benefits of Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids and told us where these nutrients can be found in dietary items. We simply went to our cupboards and refrigerator and surveyed the contents, verifying that our choices were healthy. We did get to try some very tasty cookies and no one who had been absent before the cookies were made would have suspected that the ingredients were nutritious things such as prunes and flaxseed! They were baked but resembled one of our homemade no-bake cookie recipes. Although we didn't try every recipe, we do plan to try most of them. They sound so intriguing and appetizing. A few of the ingredients and combinations are even unusual to a health nut like me! Some are things I already do.

One son said, “So that is why you put the flaxseed in our bread and muffins and give us fish oil. It’s for our brains.” EXACTLY! Brownie points in my book for this curriculum!

It was a joy to watch the “lights turn on” in my boys’ eyes as they began to understand how nutrition could impact their health and learning. I enjoyed having them come to me and ask for healthful snacks due, in part, to the influence of this curriculum.

Another thing I liked about the curriculum is that it had interwoven through it, Bible verses that speak about health and taking care of our bodies. What a great way to teach them a biblical perspective on diet and nutrition without seeming contrived!

On the downside, I had wished that there were tests at the end of the chapters to help document what the children had learned. Not that I am a huge proponent of tests but I felt I needed some measure of evaluation of how much of the information they could retain. I made my own tests up and found that they indeed understood and retained the information. So, maybe the tests were not necessary after all.

Because the book is enormous and I am as thorough as a health inspector in teaching it, we did not advance as quickly through the material as another class might have but I plan to use this curriculum throughout the remainder of the year and perhaps even come back to it again later for review. This would also be a great resource for a homeschool co-op to use for home economics and/or Science and Health classes. I highly recommend it!

Now that I’ve told you how wonderful this curriculum is, you will want to know how you can purchase it too. It can be purchased as a CD ROM for $79.95 or as a book for $99.95. Better yet, you can purchase both the book and CD ROM for a package price of $129.95.

To view sample pages, visit: http://www.healthyhomesllc.com/NC_Choose_Life.html Be sure, also, to check out their free downloads and read up on their product called, “Gentle Babies” as well as info on speaking events and other related links.

For international orders, call 918-841-2934. Or contact them at: Growing Healthy Homes, LLC. 837 Crown Drive, Bartlesville, OK 74006, 903- 466-1564 (East Texas) or 832-298-1242 (South Texas).

CONTACT: Laura Hopkins
EMAIL: laura@growinghealthyhomes.com
PHONE: 903-466-1564
WEBSITE: http://www.healthyhomesllc.com/index.html

To read what other TOS Crewmembers have said about this and other products, click on the banners in the upper and lower right hand sidebars of this blog page.

IT'S NOT FRENCH AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE A MIRROR TO READ IT.

Technologically-Challenged?

I’ve found a web design program that is technically not challenging at all.

As a writer and blogger, I’ve always wanted to learn html. So I purchased a book at a local discount store and even borrowed a few from the library but became disappointed when I felt like I was reading French in a mirror backwards. (The only French I know is my middle name and a Sunday School song.)

So, you can imagine how excited I was to receive a copy of a web design program for kids! I have two kids living at home and was a curious grow-up, so I figured it had to work for me but I was also a nervous, semi-literate html writer. In fact, I knew just enough about html to get myself in trouble.

After I began to watch this DVD, I felt a little better. It is very basic and non-threatening, guiding you step by step, through the stages of designing a web page. The only tools you need to have are the NOTEPAD program, Internet Explorer, your television and a DVD player. Well, maybe there is one more thing you need. You will want your remote control so you can pause the video and practice the lessons. (Alternatively, you can play it on the computer but you’ll have to be a pro at toggling screens).

You will want to keep your eyes on the TV screen or computer monitor as scenes transition between Brian Richardson’s mellow teaching and the computer screens of his equally mild-mannered teenaged students. I enjoyed watching and noting the manners and attitudes of respect shown by the teens as well. We did keep the remote handy so we could freeze the frames and copy the text.

The whole video is low-key and pretty easy to follow. My boys enjoyed watching their works in progress turn up as real webpages featuring their names and everything. The video showed how to create a Word Pad Document and then convert it into a web page. It also taught the kids how to create folders, save to various drives, how to find hidden code on popular web pages and more. Most of the clips were instruction on building the webpages. Both of my boys tried it. One of them was a little frustrated because his computer program was slightly different and we had to fiddle around to figure out how to convert the page to html and back to a WordPad document. Once we figured out how to do it, he jumped right back into designing. I sat with my laptop nearby and played around with the fonts and colors right along with my boys. Sometimes, we got so interested in making the letters scroll, changing the backgrounds and making up our own funny sayings, that we had to stop the movie to get back on track but each clip had enough review on it, that we were able to catch up quickly.

We learned about sandwiches--no, not those kind-my two boys became hungry at the thought of sandwiches, too--stop signs, the use of <> signs as well as how to make text scroll across the page in various directions. (See the title at the top? It's scrolling, aren't you proud of me? )Somehow the code made sense to us when it hadn’t before. I guess it was encouraging to see younger people, with less education than I, able to create and decorate a webpage. It gave me the courage to try it myself and not be intimidated by the computer words and code.

I didn’t get to watch all of the video while my laptop was available(multi-tasking took me away at times), but my boys watched the whole thing with interest.

I hope to spend more time working with the video. I have a lot more to learn from it.

What a great investment! It has a money back guarantee and for the special price of $19.99 (normally $40), a reticent or challenged learner can benefit from a low cost way to try out a potential career/hobby. It’s not for a programming savvy individual but it worked well for my kids and little old me. And who knows? It might be future job training for one of my boys. I can picture him now, making his business cards and brochures and selling people on hiring him to build their web pages.

As far as the quality of the video and acting, well, it was not super-engaging. The few jokes were somewhat flat but as a beginner instructional video, it was not bad. And the author/producer has a good motivation for selling his product. Not only does he want to help you learn to be more technologically skilled BUT also he donates a portion of the price toward charity. You might like to check out what he does and leave a comment. You can read up about that here. http://shinealight.ivillage.com/sbo-profile/?ProfileID=1168

Oh and for the other curious grown-ups: I looked up what HTML stands for—it’s an acronym for: Hyper Text Markup Language. With a name like that, no wonder everyone is shaking in their rhetorical boots. Folks who resemble that remark need to watch this video.

Do I recommend it? You bet. I did learn a lot and my kids enjoyed it as well. It was so easy compared to most other HTML programs and in the end, left me feeling like I actually might be able to play around more with designing web pages. I guess you could say, it takes the “timid” out of “intimidated”.

Here is the contact info for this company:

COMPANY: Web Design For Kids - Click Drag Solutions
CONTACT: Brian Richardson
EMAIL: support@webdesignforkids.net PHONE: 832-723-0341
WEBSITE: http://www.webdesignforkids.net/

See the banners in the sidebar for more TOS CREWMEMBER reviews of this and other products.
A TOS CREWMEMBER REVIEW OF THE DVD, “WEB DESIGN FOR KIDS (…AND CURIOUS GROWN-UPS!)” filmed by Brian Richardson

HANGING WITH HANK THE COWDOG

Hanging With Hank
A TOS Homeschool Crewmember Review of Hank The Cow Dog products from Maverick Books.

Today was a sad day in our household. We finally completed Book Number 8 of Hank The Cow Dog, titled, The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse. As a member of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s Homeschool Review Crew, I had received in the mail: the above-mentioned book, a CD (Tales and Tunes) and Tornado, a table game with accompanying story cassette tape. (Yes, you read it, a cassette tape. These stories have been around a while but are timeless tales.)

The stories, written from the perspective of the main character, Hank the Cow Dog, give a vivid picture of life on a cowboy ranch. The author, John R. Erickson is more than qualified to describe such a life, having been a real life cowboy himself.

I would say that the book is high interest, low reading level chapter book as it was written for ages 9-12 but my 13 and 15 year olds loved it. I have to confess to being entertained by the dry, “sneak-up-on-you” style humor that popped up throughout the book. My children usually hate reading and this took the stress out of telling them to pick up a book and read.

The story is about Hank the Cow Dog who has a run-in with a killer horse named Tuerto. In the beginning of the book, Hank gets food poisoned by some rotten bacon grease, and then he causes a few mishaps and gets himself in trouble with the humans. Hank spends some time with his fellow dog friends and watches them interact with their humans also. Then he finds himself all dolled up in the middle of a little girl’s dress up party. That is when the killer horse arrives on the scene and threatens the little girls. Hank becomes the protector, keeping us all on the edge of our seats. But you’ll have to read the book to know the ending. For now, I will share some specifics about the book.

Positive elements: 1. The book is “hold your sides and wipe your eyes” funny. We sometimes had a hard time stopping the giggles enough to read the story.
2. Hank and Drover show real life type of friendship with straight talk to each other as well as encouragement.
3. Language lessons are tucked in alongside the story plot. For instance, in Chapter 2, pages 10-11 contain this dialogue.

Hank: This is going to be a piece of cake, Drover.

Drover: Oh boy, it’s usually burnt toast and a busted egg.

The banter continues for a little while and then is explained.

Hank: Piece of cake is an expression, a figure of speech. It means, ‘This isn’t going to be easy’.” More discussion follows about word usage and meanings and it is done in a humorous and natural way.

Violent elements: Sally Mays hits Hank on the nose with a wooden spoon and also tries to choke him, Dogs fight with a “killer stud horse” who threatens to “keel” Hank. There are a number of threats and suggestions of possible violence. The killer horse is frightened away by a gunshot. There are a few more instances like this that bring to the surface dark feelings. Overall, though, the type of violence is milder than most old time cartoons and realistic for life on the farm. I used the situations in the stories to talk about real life in our day and age and to discuss appropriate behavior of people towards each other and towards animals. We also talked about animal instincts and how animals of different breeds react/communicate with each other.

Other possible negative content: Some words are spelled creatively to help the reader hear the accent of the characters. All of this is fine but could be a trip-up for children with language learning issues who need to see real life words spelled correctly. It would be a good opportunity for the parent or teacher to explain spelling rules and tell why writers use creative spelling sometimes.

Spiritual content: The book contains a comical piece called “Thank You Lord for Making Gals”. The prayer/song/poem appeals to boy type mentality toward girls at the preteen level. It is a good opportunity to talk about feelings toward the opposite gender and how girls and women should be treated. Although the piece is not very spiritual, it does mention the Lord. Other than that, there is no spiritual content at all (that I noticed).

Crude or profane language: Name calling, such as “dummy”, “moron”, etc. No actual cursing is used but close slang is often found. The language is very mild compared to daytime television and things children are regularly exposed to these days.

Comments from my children: “It was awesome. I want to read it again and again and again.”—13 year old. “It was fun. I enjoyed reading it.” –15 year old.

The CD and story tape were similar to the book. The CD contained excerpts from ten books and nine original songs. The one we laughed so hard at was the part where Hank pokes fun at Emily Post and manners. “We don’t really give a hoot and we don’t ever wear a suit…” Of course, we talked about manners and appropriate dress. Hank is saying what most people don’t dare to or can’t say (because they are human and he is an animal he can get away with it). This factor gave us the opening to talk about what people think and feel and how best to handle it. The CD was pure fun but did teach as well.

The Cassette contained dramatized clips from book #25, called, “Tornado”. There was a matching board game. Being Floridians who deal with tornadoes and hurricanes on a seasonal basis, the cassette and game gave me an opportunity to educate the boys on tornados and to add a little light-heartedness to learning about the potentially frightful subject.

The game seemed to be somewhat like the game of Sorry or Trouble and had some similar rules. It was slightly more complicated and used more Math skills than some board games. Materially, I’ve not seen a game made as well as this one--ever. It is a hard, plastic box that folds to encase the pieces. It looks like a Square Chinese Checkers box with different colors on the top and it’s about the size of a VHS tape when folded closed, only a little thicker and a little longer.

Each player was given pieces to represent Hank, Drover and Buzzard. There were specific colored dots on each player’s spot marked with pictures to tell you where to put the pieces. The game uses a spinner to determine steps and starts. Our boys played the game together and also invited some guests to join in a game or two. Everyone had a great time. The game feels very competitive. One of our boys reacted to the competition in a “not so nice” manner but the rest of the boys, guests included, had a great time and wanted to play the game again.

Overall, we really liked the books, CD’s and games even with some jokes that were groaners included. The boys are asking when I’m going to buy the next book and I may oblige them soon. The negative elements of the stories turned out to be very good conversation and teachable moments for my children who are young teens beginning to use logic and reasoning skills more effectively than they used to do.

If you are interested in purchasing these products, then go to http://www.hankthecowdog.com/ and be sure also to check out their online community where your small children can join Hank’s security force, play games, and buy all kinds of Hank products such as puppets, cards, children’s books, t-shirts and books for adults as well.

Here is more contact info for this vendor:

VENDOR: Maverick Books
CONTACT: Gary Rinker
EMAIL: http://www.blogger.com/gringary@ptsi.net
PHONE: 806-435-9778
WEBSITE: http://www.hankthecowdog.com/index.html

To read more about this product and goods from other vendors working with TOS, visit The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's HomeSchool Crew Blog by clicking on the banner below.

“ Ooh, Ooh, I Learned It Through the Grapevine....”

TOS CREWMEMBER Review Of

Biblical Feasts and Holy Days, by

Spread the word! Tell your your church groups, fellow educators and friends. Finally, there is a Bible Curriculum that will work for every age and educational level, available at a reasonable price. If that doesn't get you singing, then nothing will!

Biblical Feasts and Holy Days (Multi-Level) is one of the many great Bible Study Courses offered for Beginners through Adults and it has the most unique way of teaching the Bible that I have ever seen. Though it is not your average Bible curriculum, the ordinary person will be able to teach it to his or her students. In fact, one needs no special teaching ability or artistic talent to use this curriculum. All that is needed is your Bible, the student and teacher books, some colored pencils or markers and a drawing surface. As the teacher, you will draw stick figures to represent the characters and events in the story as you read from the biblical passages given in the lesson. Even a “drawing-disabled” person like myself can do it. Well, my kids still noticed an eye or two out of proportion as I can't even draw polka dots or point a pen straight but... the real point is that they LOVE doing the daily Bible lessons because they can draw instead of having to just sit and listen. Every day since the books arrived on our doorstep (with a friendly, handwritten note attached from it's author) both boys have begged to start their lessons, “Mom, can we do Bible first?”

One thing I like about the curriculum is that it “sticks” with you. The drawings are simple and yet, they relay a great deal of information about the events being taught. The effect is similar to how sign language works. Each item has a symbol that represents the facts in a clear, visual way. Both of my children have issues with memory but not with this program. The pictures cemented the ideas into their brains, making it not only good as a Bible course, but also as a great tool to help children to better grasp communication and language skills.

GrapeVine Studies produces quality courses with an approach that is friendly toward differences in belief. The Biblical Feasts and Holy Days takes a line-by-line view of the Scriptural passages with several cross references, allowing the Bible to interpret itself. In this particular course, you will learn about the origins of the Lord's Supper, the Sabbath, all of the mandated or established biblical holidays and how they are woven through Old and New Testament History. The Student book sells for $14.95 as a hard copy and as an ebook as well. Included are time lines and chronological charts to record and compare the details of the facts learned.

Each lesson is designed to last a week and is divided into small segments with a Bible passage from which to “stick figure” the events of the story. Definitions of foreign-sounding words are given for easier understanding. Each section contains a Bible memory verse to complement the lesson. Under where a stick figure is to be drawn, are the words describing the story details. The symbols have layers that build on each other so that the common details about events can be shown in the drawings. For instance, in Lesson Two, Day One, a symbol is drawn to represent Creation and how God rested on the seventh day.

Watch how Figure #1 (above) progresses into Figure #2 (below). Fig. 1 shows God resting from Creation. Fig. 2 shows God making the Sabbath covenant with mankind.

When the Sabbath is explained, the same symbol is elaborated on to represent the perpetual covenant that God made with his people regarding Sabbath-keeping years later. God is represented by a triangle, symbolizing tri-unity. The triangle shows up in later lessons through the symbols for people acknowledging the Father, the Holy Spirit and/or the Son. I love how it shows up in the symbol for the blood of Jesus reconciling humankind to a relationship with God, the Father. The drawings are simple but detailed.

The continuity in the chosen symbols helps to build a better understanding of each holy day and biblical truth. This works so well for me as a visual learner and for my children with language processing challenges. It helps them integrate the words with a mental picture of the biblical truth. GrapeVine Studies does what most Bible courses try to do only they make it much less complicated by simplifying without losing the depth of knowledge gleaned from an inductive study.

The teacher's manual is identical to the student book with the answers and added explanation. It prices at: $19.95 as a hard copy and $12.95 as an ebook. The manual gives excellent instruction to the teacher with step-by-step suggestions in how to prepare for and present the materials to the student. Explanations to the teacher rightfully claim that the books facilitate teacher-directed doctrine. For example, the subject of the Sabbath was addressed without suggesting any denominational teaching, just biblical facts about it's place in the Old and New Testaments.

Teacher guides contain goals for both teaching the material and also for the growth of the teacher in ability to study and teach the Bible. The notes in the front of the book hold a supply list and information that keys the teacher in to what the periodic reviews should yield from the students as far as knowledge and understanding. Reviews and mini-reviews are interspersed throughout the teacher and student books, reinforcing content memorization. The recommendations in the teacher guide were “spot on”. The only thing I would suggest for the usage of the curriculum is to request permission to photocopy the charts into a larger format if your children have difficulty with fine motor skills. They may need a larger place to write their answers and draw their stick figures. If you purchase the electronic format then this may be easier. Personally, I had no difficulty in using the space provided in the charts but my children did.

The Multi-Level studies are listed as appropriate for ages 7 and up but there are also specific, age-graded studies on several topics as well as tools for learning biblical geography and basic Bible content. Topic overview is relevant for ages five to adult. You will want to determine which format fits your needs and budget. GrapeVine Gang will help to assess what might work best.

The author, Dianna Wiebe, was very personable. One way that GrapeVine Studies helps to support their customers is through a newsletter to which customers can subscribe and receive offers of discounts and coupon codes as well as some great freebies from time to time-a lesson of the week. To show you how much they appreciate you, they are offering a special 30% discount if you purchase materials within thirty days of reading this review.

Just go to their website at: http://grapevinestudies.com/ and enter “crews” in the coupon code box when checking out. Be sure to investigate all the links on their website as they have some marked down products as well. Check them out. I was so impressed with this study that I hope that my family is able to take advantage of sales items and obtain more of their products.

On my rating scale, Grapevine Studies Biblical Feasts and Holy Days receives four "grape bunches" up.

Here's how you can contact them.

VENDOR: Grapevine Studies
CONTACT: Dianna
EMAIL:http://www.blogger.com/grapevinedi@yahoo.com PHONE: 307-259-9429
WEBSITE: http://grapevinestudies.com/home/

To read what other crew members are saying about this product and more, go here. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew

To see other vendors and products recommended by The Old School House Magazine, visit their catalogue at: http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php

Homeschool Goodies

Today, we attended a Homeschool Exhibition (after about an hour and a half of wandering around in circles trying to find the place).

Students displayed their masterpieces on tables in the vestibule of a little country church and visited each other's displays before gathering in the sanctuary for a time of presentation.

The first on stage happened to be a sibling quartet of violinists, (who also runs an E-zine called the Bunk Room, I believe.) They were pretty good, though an occasional variance in note, with exchanged glances and smiles, reminded us that they were child performers. After that came dancers, poetry recitations, science project displays, a nine-or-so-year-old boy who knew more about an antique automobile restoration than any woman my age would even dare to comprehend. Most interesting to me was a Math demonstration by a great mother and daughter team from our homeschooling support group and church.

Walking upstage, the pair raised a white board so the audience could see it and then ... the story-telling commenced. The number story, illustrating the multiplication tables through picture and endings that rhymed with the answers, was recited with ease and charm. It was genius! The book where she learned this type of mnemonic device is called, "Memorize in Minutes: The Times Tables", by Alan Walker. I'm considering the book, just to have on hand for helping others with special needs children. (A passion of mine.) You may find information about Mr. Walker and the book at:

www.multiplication.com/author.htm

After a few more performers, the show ended and everyone gathered for refreshments and a time of chatty laughter. My boys took advantage of the brownies and soda (they rarely get sugar) and I ate watermelon and apple slices.

Then we drove to our local Friendly's for a free ice cream cone (more sugar) and started to go home and burn off all the energy but then ran across some old friends from our former Calvary. My son used to play with their daughter when they were the only two over-energetic super-creators in the whole place. We all stood and talked in the parking lot for about 20 minutes until the men began to act like boys and the women began searching for hiding spots in the parking lot.

Our family came home and whipped through a "to do" list and then watched the new Stargate Movie (free coupon) together in the living room while eating baked homemade turkey chimichangas and salad. After I ate, I sat down at the laptop and popped out a poem, Dr. Seuss style. When the movie ended, we sent the kids to bed and I jumped back to the keys to write some more.

Such a "perfect" ending to a perfect day!

TOS REVIEW-Writer's Workshop, by Maggie Hogan

When I downloaded this We-ebook, I felt like I had hit the jackpot once again at The Old School House Magazine. As a writer wanting to pass down my love for the art, I found myself grinning at the cover shot where three smiling kids peered down at progressing books of their own.

Though only ten of the pages downloaded in the WE-ebook, Writer's Workshop, by Maggie Hogan, were actual writing group information (the rest being instruction on how to homeschool), the book was plenty wise on how to begin and host a writing workshop for children.

With the purpose focused on process over product, the author discusses how she founded and ran children's writing workshops, which proved to be more inclusive than most groups, incorporating the whole family rather than an age-segregated group of students. This one factor may make her type of workshop more appealing to homeschooling families as it includes even toddlers in the weekly 1-2 hour sessions. Additionally, those who were new at writing or not good at it at all, could orally relate their stories to adults who would record it for them on paper or other means.

Parents were also enlisted to “brainstorm” for content and help develop the lesson plans as well as to take turns preparing snacks, hosting the group in their homes, and monitoring the children in the meetings. Any adults present would not socialize with each other but help with the class instead. Depending on the size of the group, the responsibilities could be divided up according to interest or skill.

The workshop encompassed both individual and group writing excercises and a special Author's chair where children may present original works for critique purposes. Caution is taken to lay ground rules for critiquing so that there is a safe and positive learning experience for all participants.

The book also described an individual conference in which the children would each choose an adult to help them get “unstuck” and encourage them to improve their craft. This person would act like a coach with guidance but not to influence the suggestability of the child by changing the ideas of the story.

Next, Writer's Workshop, refers to the editing and publishing proccess showing readers how to help the children self-publish their books. The process includes allowing the students to have a choice in word content, illustrations and design layout. Before the final product is ready to take to press, however, the parents are to direct the supplemental learning at home by helping with editing and final draft-writing of the children's manuscripts.

My favorite parts of the workshop are the list of mini-lessons from which parents and students can choose and the final publishing party or Author's Tea. Here, the children may display the polished masterpieces and participate in a sort of “Roundtable” discussion of the final products each has presented. It should be semi-formal or even elaborate with fancy party foods and an atmosphere of celebration for all the children's hard work.

Writer's Workshop proved to be exactly the tool it promised to be. The unusual ideas detailed in it make it a perfect fit for the diversified world of homeschooling. Now that this reviewer has read and reviewed the “ultimate how-to manual” on children's writing workshops, I have to give the book two thumbs up!

To put this and other good resources on your bookshelves, visit: http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/

TOS REVIEW-HOMESCHOOLING THE REBEL, PART TWO

The following is my review on HomeSchooling The Rebel, Part Two, by Deborah Wueler, Senior Editor of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

Written in answer to the multitude of letters received in response to HomeSchooling the Rebel, Part One, this sequel contains an extensive and intriguing update on how the author's parenting solutions played out over time.

The introduction starts of with a BANG as Mrs. Wueler puts words to the feelings that she and other parents of “rebels” feel but are afraid to say. She wrote: “These are the types of children that aren't supposed to belong to good Christian homeschool families...We train them up in the way they should go and they go the opposite direction-on purpose and with fury.”

I found this edition of HomeSchooling the Rebel, to be even more helpful than Part One as it flooded the page with numerous examples of how to help a willful or distractable child stay on track. In addition, the reader is able to “hear” straight from the horse's mouth-the grown up rebel himself-which of his mom's ideas worked and which didn't work to provide the needed discipline.

One idea the “rebel” said helped him to concentrate on school work or assigned chores was the use of an MP3 player loaded with music or an audio book. This helped him to block out distractions. His parents also made re-usable checklists with step-by-step instructions for regular responsibilities. When the child did his bookwork, they secluded him in a quiet room away from the rest of the family. The “rebel” seemed to think that it really helped him.

As for the author, she stressed to the readers the importance of showing the offending child a vision of how his or her “negative” personality traits can be directed toward positive ends. I really liked that idea and have used it myself for children with A.D.H.D. or O.D.D. This approach gives hope to a child who might otherwise suffer from depression due to perceived failures.
The author also encouraged parents of children like this to set the tone of the home by being pro-active in managing the child's schedule and diet to maintain even blood sugar levels and happier moods. The parents should also actively search for ways to intentionally show love and kindness to the child, thus softening the child's spirit toward them and vice-versa.

This reviewer only found one aspect of the book that might be difficult to apply for many homeschooled families who often live on restrictive budgets because of having only one income.

The suggestion was made that parents find respite care for the challenging child, allowing both the parents and the child to have a break from the stress of interpersonal struggle. It is an excellent idea that would extend to the child practice time being obedient to the authority of another person of good influence but in some cases, it may be improbable or even yet, nigh to impossible for some families to afford for the length of time necessary. Nonetheless, homeschooling families are just the type to be able to find a way to make it work via co-operatives or church associations.

Other than the content of the book, the other positive elements relate to the layout. Both HomeSchooling the Rebel, Parts One and Two are written in a larger font with pop-out boxes holding quips and quotes from the text. This made it easier to read and faster from which to learn.

Though both books were excellent, HomeSchooling the Rebel, Part Two receives five stars for readability, layout, spiritual/other helpful content, and anecdotal humor. This reviewer says she has found yet another book by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine that parents who homeschool and/or have special needs children can't do without!

To put this and other good resources on your bookshelves, visit: www.theoldschoolhousestore.com

TOS REVIEW, Homeschooling the Rebel, PART ONE

Almost everyone knows of a family with a child who marches to his or her own drum beat.

Homeschooling the Rebel, Part One, details one family's solution to maintaining order in their home while trying to tame their “rebel”. As a person who has cared for challenged children, I was drawn to the book by the cover which showed a child biting his lips and sporting a scowl. The story further gained my interest by the re-telling of a heated argument in which the author and her child fought with equal defiance to control a situation. “I won't” and “You will, too” became a never-ending cacophony day after day until the author decided to look for solutions.

From time to time, all parents face non-compliance in their children but the kind dealt with by the author is only read about in books, or so she thought. Her anguish played out the inner struggle she battled while hunting down root causes for her child's “rebellious” spirit. She began looking for possible triggers to his “explosions”, even examining how she may have contributed to his behavior patterns through expectations that were too elevated or not spending enough time with him. This part of the story is where many readers will empathize.

The main concern the author had for her child dealt with the initial behavioral response of defiance and continual opposition over seemingly petty things. She did, however, express the possibility that the child might have suffered from Attention Deficit Disorder, stating that he is “ultra-slow” and has a “high level of distractability”.

Whereas some parents would have merely labeled the child with Oppositional Defiant Disorder and consequently excused the behavior as a disability that can't be helped, Mrs. Wueler searched for answers and then shared her results with the readers.

Solutions were a compiliation of techniques and strategies to discipline, mentor, teach, and emmerse her child in wholesome literature and Scripture. Care was taken to implement a stringent schedule as well as consistent routines. Cancellation of many outside activities provided more time to work on discipleschip and modelling of self-control. All of this was tempered by a firm resolve to train and love the child into a position of respect for authority.

Some of the methods resemebled attachment parenting techniques in the sense that the child spent most of the time in adult-directed activities in the close proximity of a parent who could coach and correct. Also, she used earned priviledges to teach respect, obedience and self-control. None of these were time related priviledges. Where the methods contrasted with attachment parenting is where the adult supervision and direction was not only matricarchal but also included the father.

Homeschooling the Rebel, Part One, is an easy read with twelve pages of instruction, providing quick, practical ways to implement the ideas for parenting one of these difficult children. Page thirteen begins an appendix with general information on homeschooling. Also included are links to other helpful information such as their online catalgoue and subscriptions to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

One element that did seem out of place in the appendix, but was enjoyable nonetheless, was a poem by Amelia Harper called, “To A HomeSchool Mom”.

Finding Part One of Homeschooling The Rebel to be very informative, this reveiwer is curious about what could possibly be contained in Part Two. Part One receives four stars!

To purchase a copy of the above-reviewed E-book, visit. http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/

Do Your HomeWork

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s E-book, HomeWork, Juggling Home, Work and School Without Losing Your Balance, should have been subtitled, “A Super Heroine’s Guide to Everything”. The book, which unveils the business and organizational secrets of sixteen self-employed homeschooling Supermom’s, contains a collection of success stories and tips on everything from scheduling to homeschooling and running a family business while you sleep.

The articles are grouped according to similarity and subject matter. Written in a conversational style that makes the reader feel like she is both talking to the girl next door and getting information from an expert, the stories offer a variety of ideas that work for any family, whether they are highly structured homeschoolers or less structured un-schoolers. The businesses featured employ all or few family members but the innovation of the parents/business owners both appeals to one’s sense of awe and one’s confidence in their own ability to become a “mom-preneur” - as one essayist nicknamed it.

Though the quality of the writing varied from excellent to fair throughout the publication, the plethora of information included in each was very helpful.

Of personal interest to this reviewer were the parents of challenged children, such as Rebekah Wilson, author of “Hope Chest” who didn’t even mean to start a business but had her book publishing effort snowball into a giant opportunity. Just as interesting was the testimony of the owner of Kap and Pen Productions, who networked with another homeschooling author to publish and write books for boys and girls. Next, the article about Shalom Ranch Ministries tells how the Sherwoods used ingenuity to create multiple small business endeavors which blossomed into association with renowned Attachment Therapist, Nancy Thomas, whose materials have helped this reviewer and many other parents of special needs and/or adoptive children. Last, but not least, Jill Novak of Remembrance Press tells how she came home to work leaving a job as a graphic designer in a major Christian publishing house and turned to self-publishing Art and Nature curriculum as well as learning new skills with html coding and computer technology.

What stood out the most in the stories was that even though these moms were accomplishing great feats of organization and successful business ventures, they were each able to do so with humility and a heart of service to their families, something many Christian women desire to do but don’t know how to put into practice. The women in these stories shared the, good, the bad and the ugly as far as the mistakes and wise choices they made when beginning a business. Though some stories brought out aspects of having a home business that seem undesirable and overwhelming, the overall feeling felt by this reviewer in the end was encouragement that it is possible to successfully supplement the family income without subtracting oneself from the family home or neglecting the training and education of one’s children.

For this reviewer and all future Supermoms, this book should be on the must-have, must-read list! HomeWork, Juggling Home, Work and School Without Losing Your Balance earns a five star rating here!

To purchase a copy of the above-reviewed E-book, visit. http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/

BOOK REVIEWS

My next posts will contain reviews of several E-books from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. You may purchase copies of these books from their online store at: http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=159&products_id=8425

For those of you unfamiliar with T.O.S., this website will bring you up to date on great resources for homeschoolers and parents, including a blog, magazine, newsletters, an online store and more! In fact, even those who are educators in learning centers (i.e. Sunday School, youth workers, teachers) other than homeschooling will find valuable TEACHING TOOLS as well.

Up first: A review of "HomeWork" followed by "Homeschooling the Rebel" parts one and two and "Writer's Workshop". All of these books are fabulous! I can't wait to tell you all about them! Stay tuned...

HomeSchool and Schedules

Years ago, when my oldest homeschooled, there was a mis-conception that homeschoolers slept all day and did half the amount of work of a private or public schooler. I can't tell you how many people used to call me in the middle of the day to talk, or suggest that I change my plans to accommodate theirs because I was a homeschooler. "Well, you homeschool, you're available."

While some home educators are more "relaxed" in their scheduling, the majority are up to their ears in activities and other commitments. Moms who teach their children have less time than the Stay-At-Home-Moms who kept house when we were children. They are working from home, volunteering in the community, taking turns with their spouses working outside the home and taxi-ing children to homeschool groups and community sports on top of that!

Misconceptions may exist on either end of the spectrum. Ideas about needing to hold classes from 8am-5pm run both among home educators and the public. "The world runs on a 9 to 5 schedule. Children need to arise early and work all day in order be prepared for adulthood in the real world."

While this idea holds some weight, we must remember that the world runs on three shifts and if all were morning people, no one would run the hospitals or provide safety at night as security personnel or police. Restaurants and businesses would be filthy and the stores would not be stocked when we arrive at 8am to shop.

While some type of a schedule is necessary, homeschoolers need not feel condemned if their schedule does not match the ideals of others. As long as there is some type of consistent structure, their children will be able to survive in this world as long as they have a good work ethic. Remember, one of the reasons homeschooling works so well is it's flexibility to meet the individual and family needs, making it possible for everyone to be successful.

Structure is important in life but flexibility is crucial. The world is full of unhappy people who do not know how to be flexible. One minor change throws them into a "tizzy" and stumps them. Teaching your children to be consistent and to persevere through interruptions is a more balanced approach.

Find the schedule that works for you, but be able to work around it, if changes occur. Your children will learn how to be successful and develop a winning attitude by watching your example.

Home School Humor

Due to many misconceptions, homeschooling has become the brunt of jokes by other educators. (For that matter, so has public schooling among some home and private schoolers.) I've come to the conclusion that when mud is slung, some will stick. As long as respect remains a part of our joking, I see no harm in using a little sarcasm to deflect ridiculous assumptions about one's own lifestyle choices.

At the end of this post is a video by a family-friendly comedian who points out some of the stereotypes and idiosyncrasies of homeschooling. I hope you find it funny like I did and not offensive. As I've stated before, I have children in the public school system and one at home. Some of my family members are true examples of public school teachers that really care about their profession. That being said, I prefer homeschooling my children if they are capable of being homeschooled. I really love the teachable moments which occur outside of book work in that setting and I love the fact that the lifestyle is so flexible and can be scheduled around family matters or vice-versa. I love the educational opportunities that it provides in a more individualized way than a classroom. I love the socialization aspects of homeschooling.

Nevertheless, homeschooling has not always been what it is today and so has garnered alot of attention for it's past oddities. Here is Tim Hawkins on youtube. Click on the link that says, " A Homeschool Family." Make sure you get Kleenex and hold your sides while you watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM6uqj0_jQc